Therapeutic vaccine and chemotherapy may be effective for curing cancer

65-year-old GambhirChoudhary, a resident of Jalgaon, had little hope for survival when he was detected with stage IV of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in 2011. During that time there were no drugs available to treat cancer cells. Currently, he leads a normal life with the help of a new treatment – therapeutic vaccine.

Choudhary initially complained of cough and bleeding and smoked almost 40 cigarettes a day. He took treatment in a couple of hospitals in Jalgaon after which the doctors referred him to Ruby Hall Clinic in Pune. Here, he was diagnosed with NSCLC.DrMinish Jain, Director f Medical Oncology at Ruby Hall Clinic, who treated Choudhary, said, “Cancer can be immunologically cured. The patient was administered with vaccination.”

According to the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guideline, the survival rates in patients suffering from NSCLC are limited. In the first year, the survival rate is 30-40 per cent and in the second it is merely 10-15 per cent among fit patients.

Therapeutic vaccines can make the immune system attack the cancer cells. At present, a study is looking at using vaccine and chemotherapy to treat people with advanced lung cancer. Choudharywas put on first-line chemotherapy cycle and later on therapeutic vaccines. He was given vaccines for almost two years and eight months, and now he has all his reports cleared.

Talking about the procedure, Dr RakeshNeve, Senior Onco-Consultant at Noble Hospital, informed, “The treatment for lung cancer depends on the markers of the cancer cell. In vaccine therapy, the body identifies cancer cells and launches enhance immune response on the tumour cells. The cancer cells are grown in a person’s body, but the white cells that are already present find and destroy them. Doctors and researchers through cancer vaccines are trying to increase antigen so that more number of white cells are able to identify the cancer cells. The vaccine therapy is a move to boost the body’s immune system and also increase the number of white cells. Different therapies work differently in patients and this particular case was fortunate.”

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